International Atomic Energy Agency IUREP N.P.S, 139 December 1977 Distr. LIMITED Original: ENGLISH

INTERNATIONAL URANIUM RESOURCES EVALUATION PROJECT

IUREP

NATIONAL FATOURABILITY STUDIES

ISRAEL

78-218 DISCLAIMER

Portions of this document may be illegible in electronic image products. Images are produced from the best available original document INTERNATIONAL URANIUM RESOURCES EVALUATION PROJECT

I U R E P

NATIONAL FATOURABILITY STUDIES

IUREP N.F.S. No. 139

ISRAEL

CONTENTS

SUMMARY PAGE

A. INTRODUCTION AND GENERAL GEOGRAPHY 1.

B. GEOLOGY OP ISRAEL IN RELATION TO POTENTIALLY FAVOURABLE URANIUM BEARING AREAS

C. PAST EXPLORATION 2.

D. URANIUM OCCURRENCES AND RESOURCES 3.

E. PRESENT STATUS OP EXPLORATION ' 4.

P. POTENTIAL FOR NEW DISCOVERIES 4.

REFERENCES 4.

FIGURES No. 1 Israel, showing the territory which was formerly a part of the Palestine mandate

No. 2 Location Map No. 3 Location of proven phosphate deposits in Israel

SUMMARY

The geology of Israel is relatively simple. Most of the country is underlain "by sedimentary rocks of Secondary and Tertiary age. As far as the IAEA is aware no systematic exploration has been done for conventional type uranium deposits.

Israel has no uranium deposits, and no high or low-grade uranium ores. However, there are uranium "sources" which are mainly phosphate rock.Proven phosphate reserves in Israel are estimated at about 220 million tons in five different locations. The average uranium concentration is between 100 and 170 ppm. This makes the uranium content in the proven phosphate reserves of Israel to be about 25,000 tons.

Together with the possibility of additional discoveries and on the assumption that the economic conditions for the production of both phosphate and uranium become favourable the Speculative Potential is placed in the 10,000 to 50 ,000 tonnes uranium category. o - 1 -

A. INTRODUCTION AND GENERAL GEOGRAPHY

Israel, a republic of southwest Asia, is bounded north by Lebanon, east by Syria and Jordan, southwest by Egypt and west by the Mediterranean. Total area 7,993 sq. mi., (20,702 sq km). The country is subdivided administratively into six districts: Jerusalem, with the corridor from the coastal plain into the Judaean hills; Tel Aviv-Jaffa, including the southern part of the coastal plain; Central (chief town Ramie); Haifa; Northern (Nazareth); and Southern (Beersheba), with the Negev.

Along the Mediterranean is the coastal plain; it is narrow north of Acre and at Haifa, but -widens southward in Sharon and Darom to a width of 20 mi. The vales of Esdraelon and Jezreel join the Acre plain to the Jordan valley, and like the coast plain are below 300 ft. Upper Galilee is the highest part of Israel, with rounded hills rising to 3?963 ft. at Har Meiron (Jabal Jarmaq). Lower Galilee lies between 1,000 and 2,000 ft., and its hills are more broken. The Galilean hills terminate eastward in a steep scarp overlooking the upper Jordan valley. A small portion of the limestone Judaean hills, the Jerusalem corridor, lies with Israel; between the Judaean hills and the coast plain is the foothill region of the Shefela (lowland) between 500 and 1,500 ft. The Jordan valley lies at 500 ft above sea level at Dan on the northern border, but at Lake Tiberias (sea of Galilee) the level is 696 ft below sea level and the Dead sea surface 1,302 ft below the Mediterranean. The Rift valley is continued south to the Gulf of Aqaba, but its floor rises to 500 ft above sea level midway. The Negev (qv), or south, is clearly marked off by its aridity. Its northwestern limit is a line through Beersheba to Sodom. The northwestern Negev is a plain of sand dunes and stony desert. This rises gradually to the central Negev heights, at more than 3»000 ft.

The Jordan river rises north of the Israel-Lebanon and Israel- Syria borders. It flows through lakes Hula (Yam Hulata) and Galilee (Kinneret), enters Jordan south of Beisan (Beit-Shaan) and empties into the Dead sea. The inflow into the . Dead sea is balanced by evaportation, thus accounting for the high salt concentration, eight times that of the average for the ocean. . Other rivers in Israel are small and mostly seasonal (wadies), except for the Quishbn, which enters the sea near Haifa, and the Yarkon (Auja), which enters at Tel. Aviv.

Israel north of Beersheba has a Mediterranean climate, but the Negev is arid. The Negev lies south of the 8 in. annual isohyet; there cultivation is impossible without irrigation. In the plains rainfall decreases from 24 in. in the north to 16 in, at Ascalon (Ashkelon) and 10 in. near Beersheba. The Galilean hills receive up to 40 in. annually and Jerusalem 24 in.. The Jordan valley is hotter and drier than the coastal region; the Dead sea has a rain- fall of 2-4 in. - 2 -

The mild rainy season is from October to April with the maximum in December and January, Summers are dry and hot with midday temper- atures of 29° - 35° C (85° - 95° P), but the coasts feel cooler" with refreshing sea breezes. The Negev and Jordan valley have midday temperatures exceeding 38° C (100° P). On the coast mean midday maximums in winter vary between 15° and 18 C (60° - 650 P)| with minimum temperatures of between 7° and 10° C (45° - 50° JO• Occasional cold spells bring snow to the hills in me it winters, but very rarely to the coast or Jordan valley. Hot spells in early summer are caused by dry winds (khamsin) from the Arabian desert or Sinai.

The state-owned railways extend over 392 mi. and hard roads over 1,864 mi.

In addition to the ports of Haifa and Tel Aviv-Jaffa, a harbour has been built at Elath with access to the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean. Air communications are centred at Lod international air- port near Tel Aviv.

B. GEOLOGY OF ISRAEL IN RELATION TO POTENTIALLY FAVOURABLE URANIUM BEARING AREAS

The geology of Israel is relatively simple. Most of the country is underlain by sedimentary rocks of Secondary and Tertiary a age. In the coastal plain, the vale of Esdraelon and upper Jordan valley, Quaternary alluvium overlies the older rocks. The Secondary and Tertiary rocks are predominantly chalky or dolomitic limestones (laid down under marine conditions on the margins of the Arabian platform), which form the hill country of Galilee, Judaea and the central Negev. In Tertiary times folding arched up the hills along a north-south axis, and in the Negev along northeagt- southwest axes, while faulting is responsible for the remarkable Rift valley occupied by the Jordan river, Dead Sea and Gulf of Aqaba. The vales of Esdraelon and Jezreel are downfaulted along a north- west- southeast axis.

C. PAST EXPLORATION • '•..'

No information is available to the IAEA about any past exploration for conventional type uranium deposits in Israel. It is known, that in early 1976 the Geological Survey of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry was interested in arranging overseas train- ing for 3 or 4 staff geologists on uranium geology, geophysical and geochemical exploration methods and the evaluation of uranium deposits, especially low grade occurrences. It is assumed that this was part of a specific uranium exploration project.

Search for, and evaluation of, phosphate deposits carrying small quantities of uranium has been in existence for many years and much research has been done on the recovery of uranium from phosphates, - 3 -

D. URANIUM OCCURRENCES AND RESOURCES

The phosphate deposits of Israel are part of the Mediterranean phosphorite belt which extends from Turkey, in the north through Syria, Jordan, Israel, Egypt, Tunisia, and Morocco to Spanish Morocco, in the west.

In Israel, phosphorites are found throughout the Negev in the same stratigraphic horizon (Upper Mishash Formation - Late Campanian). They overlie and are interbedded with a chert, porcelanite and chalk sequence and are generally covered by a Maestrichtian marl - the Ghareb Fm., whose lower member often contains oil shales. Phosphorites were deposited in relatively small synclinal basins; about twenty such basins (fields) are known in the Negev. Nine basins were sampled in the present study (Fig No. 2),

Israel has no uranium deposits, and no high- or low-grade uranium ores. However, there are uranium "sources", which are mainly phosphate rock. Uranium from this source could be recovered at a reasonable price, only as a by-product of phosphoric acid production. Therefore, not all the uranium in the phosphate rock mined in Israel can be recovered«> Only that part contained in the rock which is being used for phosphoric acid production is potentially available for recovery, which at present is a small amount.

At present there are three phosphoric acid plants in Israel. Two small plants in Haifa will each be producing at full capacity a about 15f000 tons of P2O5 year, and the third, which has just started operation, in the southern part of Israel, will make about 160,000 tons P2O5 a year as phosphoric acid. The uranium availability in the three plants is about 100 tons/yr. However, it is not worthwhile building special installations for the recovery of uranium as a by-product of the two plants in Haifa, because of the small amounts involved. Preliminary design and evaluation has been carried out to consider building a uraniuit recovery installation adjacent to the big phosphoric acid plant in the south.

Proven phosphate reserves in Israel are estimated at about 220 million tons in five different locations, all in the southern part of the country (Fig 3). No extensive uranium survey was carried out, except in locations 1, 2 and 3S where the phosphate rock is being mined. The average uranium concentration is between 100 to 170 ppm depending on location, This makes the uranium con- tent in the proven phosphate reserves in Israel to be about 25?000 tons .

Three million tons of phosphate rock will be mined annually in Israel, when the new phosphoric acid plant reaches full capacity, sometime in 1972. Of these only a little over 700,000 tons will be used in the near future for phosphoric acid production, 600,000 tons of which will be used in the new plant. At 150 ppm concentration, the annual uranium availability will be about 90 tons. - 4 -

About 3-4 tons of uranium a year can be recovered at the two small plants in Haifa. At one of these, a small uranium recovery plant was actually operating in 1958-1960 but was shut down because of the small quantities involved and the high cost of operation. The ^same considerations apply today concerning recovery of uranium at these plants. Cost estimates carried out recently [l] show that uranium process could run as high as |25/lb U3O8, should it be recovered at these two Haifa plants. No uranium recovery is contem- plated here in the near future unless phospharic acid production should be appreciably expanded.

On the other hand, uranium recovery as a by-product of the plant just completed is being considered. Two processes were developed. In each the overall yield is about 5dfo} which means that 40 to 50 tons of uranium metal could be recovered annually when the phosphoric acid production reaches full capacity (sometime in 1972).

E. PRESENT STATUS OF EXPLORATION

No information is available to IAEA about the present status of uranium exploration in Israel except that, as already mentioned there seemed to be some interest in 1976 by the Geological Survey to set up a uranium exploration programme.

F. POTENTIAL FOR NEW DISCOVERIES

The uranium content of the phosphates estimated above to be 25,000 tons might be recovered over the long term if the economic conditions were correct for both the phosphate and uranium industries, Together with the slight possibility of additional discoveries it is therefore believed that the Speculative Potential should be placed in the 10,000 to 50,000 tonnes uranium category.

Compiled by J Cameron IAEA Vienna October 1977

References

Encyclopedia Britannica Vol. 30, 15th Edition, 1974 pp. 697-702 Nathan Y and Shiloni Y "Exploration for Uranium in Phosphorites: A New Study on the Israel Phosphorites. Symposium on Exploration for Uranium Ore Deposits", IAEA, Vienna 1976 Ketzinel Z "Uranium Sources, Production and Demand in Israel" Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy Geneva"19,71, IAEA Vienna 1972 MigdaJ AscaJo:

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ISRAEL, SHOWING THE. TERRITORY WHICH WAS FORMERLY A PART QF o

— Inuestigofed area 3 Phosphorile field Field under e*p!oifaJion

Location ..map Locations of proven phosphate deposits in Israel